03/11/2025

Dr. Jim Collins

Closing Keynote: Becoming the Ultimate Leader: Raising Your Game While Lifting Up Your Team 
Session: The Ethics of Dementia & Memory Care

Meet Dr. Jim Collins:

My passion for senior care, education, and creating businesses that can make a difference in lives of seniors and healthcare professionals started when I was a young teen. My mother was a nursing assistant at a local skilled nursing facility and didn’t drive, so I ended up taking her to work and picking her up. Most days, I would stop in and spend time with the staff and residents and experienced the feeling “this is where I was meant to be”.

My early college years were filled with every course I could take that focused on aging in gerontology, psychology, biology and nutrition. I begged and pleaded with the Dean of Arts and Sciences to create my own degree, since there was none in Gerontology at that time. The end result was that I graduated with the first “Applied Gerontology” Bachelor’s degree on campus.

After earning a Master’s degree, PhD and working 30 years in the field, I continue to educate senior care professionals across the country through two of my companies, Collins Learning and CEU Academy. I’ve held a leadership position for a privately owned hospice agency and have most recently founded Sapphire Essentials, which provides high-quality THC-free CBD products designed for older adults and caregivers.

I continue to write, educate, and develop businesses with the goal of maximizing quality of life for older adults and seniors and training those who provide their care.